Sardinia, Italy Photos

Dusk descends on pastel-hued Castelsardo, named one of Italy's most beautiful towns by the Italian organization I Borghi Più Belli d'Italia (Italy's Most Beautiful Towns). Dating to the 1100s, Castelsardo became a "royal city" under Argonian rule in the Middle Ages, then was incorporated into the Piedmont-based Duchy of Savoy in the 18th century. It is known today for its Cathedral of Sant'Antonio d'Abate and the Museum of Mediterranean Basketry and Wickerwork.

Photograph by Dave Yoder

Visitors bustle by the Focacceria, purveyor of that traditional Italian herbed flatbread, on the island of La Maddalena, largest of the isles that lie off Sardinia's north coast. Popular with boaters, La Maddalena also attracts day-trippers from the north Sardinian town of Palau.

Photograph by Dave Yoder

Guests at the farm Tenuta Pilastru enjoy 370 rustic acres—complete with hiking trails, horse stables, and a restaurant—just minutes from the sea.

Photograph by Dave Yoder

From bottle stopper to showstopper: Cork-derived fabrics grace Atelier Anna Grindi, a boutique in the town of Tempio Pausania that is popular with fashionistas. Anna Grindi, for whom the atelier is named, developed the technique of crafting fabric from thin sheets of cork bark.

Photograph by Dave Yoder

The beam still flashes at Capo Testa lighthouse, a local landmark that has watched over Sardinia's northernmost headland since 1845.

Photograph by Dave Yoder

Transport for two: A three-wheeler makes for cozy quarters for a retired couple in the northern Sardinian town of Tempio Pausania.

Photograph by Dave Yoder

A tomato-shellfish sauce coats a classic dish of spaghetti tuttomare—"all sea"—at the restaurant Da Antonio in the coastal village of Stintino.

Photograph by Dave Yoder

Rockbound Sardinia teems with stone-built monuments, such as Castelsardo's 400-year-old Cathedral of Sant'Antonio d'bate, dedicated to the town's patron saint and known for its masterful altarpiece. "The altarpiece is known as the 'Madonna with Angels,' and was done by a 15th-century painter known only as the Maestro of Castelsardo," says author Stanley Stewart. "A contemporary of Michelangelo's, he painted in a manner of an earlier era, as if news of the Renaissance had not quite reached him."

Seafood is the order of the day every day at Antonio Cimino's fish shop, a fixture in the inland town of Tempio Pausania.

Photograph by Dave Yoder

Typical regional dishes—such as puligioni, ravioli made with sweet ricotta, and chjusoni, the local version of gnocchi—are served at the homey restaurant Da Agnese in the town of Sant'Antonio di Gallura, 32 miles south of the town of Santa Teresa di Gallura.